The Crow, the Scarecrow and the Cornfield
by ClimbingUpTheWalls
Summary: As children they are taught that there is only the Capitol. As adults they are taught not to question this one truth. Clove/Peeta Katniss/Cato Madge/Gale
1. Prologue:1

A fine dust falls to the ground, the last to come after the great pile of boulders fell. A few stray rocks and pebbles come tumbling down, though they are nothing compared to the great stones that seal the tomb of the two tributes.

Peeta realizes in this moment that the Capitol would never _actually _let two tributes win.

Beneath that great pile, left to rot in that tomb, is Cato and Katniss.

Seconds later two cannons ring through the air.

If he could process much right now he would consider that they might not actually be dead. But all he can do is chock on the dust clouding his vision as he inhales sharply.

Imagine Katniss, so focused on trying to gain some footing on Cato and suddenly, without any warning, those rocks falling to her. An irony almost, that this is the most common way to die in District Twelve.

His heart falls to the ground, his stomach turning and bile rising to the back of his throat. Tears prickle to his eyes, a combination of the clearing dust and his pure devastation of losing the girl he's watched for so long.

And beside him Clove takes sharp breathes before screaming.

"Cato!" She pushes right past Peeta, her small legs stretched and moving quickly, dragging herself to the pile of rocks and trying to see if there's anything she might do. Prove the cannons were wrong.

There isn't and there not wrong.

Peeta swallows, trying to come down to reality.

But Katniss Katniss Katniss.

Rotting in there. A primarily stop for tourist when this place becomes some sort of vacation getaway.

The dust settles but he still hasn't moved. Clove continues to claw at the boulders. Scraping off the smaller rocks bur coming to the realization that it's too late. That Cato was gone.

Peeta tries to come to the same realization, that he will never see Katniss in the flesh again. She will forever be cemented as a memory, as a million little pixels on a T.V. screen. Dead. Gone.

Prim, sitting at home between her mother and father. Watching in terror as Clove begins to scream, slamming her left fist into the stone. Her right arm broken, the sling for it coming off. He imagines the pain being impossible.

His leg, barely healed, throbs from all the standing and fighting.

Still, it doesn't stop him from taking those numb steps forward and watching Clove carefully.

She's technically the last one standing in his way of going home. But he won't kill an injured and mourning girl. He stands at the end of the boulder she's climbed onto, watching her knuckle begin to bleed as she scrapes at the ruble. "Cato! Cato! Answer me!"

He doesn't.

Peeta watches the scene unfolding, watching the once stoic and collected girl unravel. Her hair falling from her tight ponytail as she continues to fight boulders.

He knows it's useless to call out to Katniss. Even if she was alive…

Still he knows that she wouldn't want her body to rot in such a horrible place. She would want to be taken home. For that he crawls up, some difficulty because of his leg, and begins to push rocks aside with Clove who spares him a glance before growing frantic once more.

There's no way they can actually make it. He comes to this conclusion about five minutes later. They would need at least ten Thresh's to make it.

Slowly he pulls away, notices the changes in the air. The heavier atmosphere. One of them needs to die. The Capitol is growing uneasy and needs to be appeased. He thinks of the knife in his boot, taken from the Careers so early in the Games.

But that isn't Peeta. That's playing this game he so much detested. Does he even want to win? The answer is simple. No. Not without Katniss anyway.

Clove will mourn for a while, but ultimately she wants victory.

Slowly he draws the knife, gripping the blade lightly he places the handle in front of her face.

It's the only thing that works. Though he sees her nails, cracked and bleeding, still twitch as though to dig once more.

"The hell are you doing Loverboy?" She hisses.

"He's gone Clove."

Her eyes flash and an actual growl rumbles in her throat.

"No he's not! He's in there and I have to get to him."

She begins to pull at the top boulder again, desperate to pull at least one out.

"Clove."

Nothing.

"Clove."

Silence.

"Clove!"

"What! What do you want from me? Tell me Loverboy, just tell me what!"

She's in complete hysterics at this point.

He drops his knife before her and slides down to the ground.

He sits in the dirt, unable to support his own weight anymore. He notices the bleeding on his leg. Clove must have gotten him during their own fight.

He still hears her fighting above him, hissing, growling.

Peeta's eyes fall shut, though he doesn't fall asleep. Instead he wanders through memories of Katniss and home. He imagines a world where she live to be old with him.

And then he waits for Clove to come to her senses and realize she has to kill him.

* * *

**Hey guys, new story here. Basically going to update this one constantly, not that I don't love Lux in Tenebris, I just think I put all my Kato/Catoniss love there and realized that I was getting to fluffy when it was meant to be more adventurous. **

**Some brief warnings about this: It's mainly Cato/Katniss Peeta/Clove and some very dark and angsty Madge/Gale. Very dark. But they're way later. But I do love baby fics and pregnancy stories and not to spoil anything but consider it a very real possibility that this could turn into a baby/ early next generation fic. I only say this now so that when you're knee deep in it you don't get pissed at me because 'you didn't sign up to read about babies and blah blah blah.' **

**Sorry, just having a rough week.**

**Anyway, chapters won't be very long, barely a thousand words but most will be leading to the plot.**

**I hope you enjoy and will answer any questions. **


	2. Prologue:2

Katniss wakes with a slight burn in her arm. At first all she has to do is rest it on the cold floor of… wherever she is. It soothes for a moment and she is able to fall back into sweet unconsciousness.

She must only be out for a few minutes, because soon even the cool floor isn't enough. The burning in her arm turns to an uncomfortable throb until it's almost too much. Before she can stop herself the scream tears from her lips, gasping and choking. She feels like a fish out of water. The burning is so intense and so centered in one part of her arm. And its pushing…?

Yes it is, right out of her skin, out of her body. She gives one last scream, though muffled by a sudden coughing fit as the small ember rolls off of her arm, cauterizing her wound in its wake. She breaths heavily, choking as dust fills her lungs.

When she comes down from her fit she finally begins to take notice of where she is. The Cave. Or a cave. It was hard to remember if this was the same one she shared with Peeta. It was close but possible that this was another.

Her fight with Cato had gotten a little out of hand and it was anybody's guess how she got from Peeta's side, down to the riverbank and then back up to this place.

She bites her lips as she lifts herself off of her back. Her muscles ache and scream in protest but she continues, her hands digging into the Earth to find perch.

Peeta- Peeta had been fighting Clove. She had been fighting Cato. Memories of these things fill her mind as she tries to regain her bearings.

The small little glowing rock confuses her the most though as she racks her mind for what it could possible be.

It's then that she notices a second one. A dull orange color that pulsates black.

Somebody else…?

"Hello?" She asks, clearing her throat and wincing at how sore it is.

A low groan echoes against the walls and she jumps, having not really expected somebody to actually be there. She looks around but the dust gathers in her eyes and she has to squeeze them shut to prevent the stinging.

Too deep to be Clove.

She squints harder but is fairly certain who it is.

Peeta would be asking her how she felt, despite his own pain..

"Cato?"

"What."

With a hiss she sinks down, closing her eyes and taking note that she's in a great deal of trouble now. Not that she wasn't before or anything.

"The trumpets went off."

"Huh?" Katniss asks, thinking he must be hallucinating now.

But he repeats himself word for word.

At her silence, trying to processes what he must mean, he sighs.

"We've been written off. Either Clove or Peeta won. Couldn't catch a name. Just heard the trumpets."

It's a punch to the face, ice cold water being thrown onto her in order for her to wake up. Her and Cato were left to die. Peeta may be dead. Or Clove. It's almost too painful to think about the most likely case.

She holds back the pain at the thought of his death. Building walls as high as they'll go around her heart.

But then the real fear settles in. She was here. With Cato. As he put it, they were written off. Which was completely and absolutely true. The Capitol didn't need the real Victor of these games sitting outside, growing bored and waiting for her and Cato to starve to death.

They were off to grander and bigger things.

She prayed with every fiber of her being that it was Peeta that those trumpets played for.

She hears a longer more pained groan as Cato sits up. She winces, it would have been in her best interest if he'd been more injured.

He makes no move to lunge at her. Had he, there was a great possibility that he would have killed her.

She can barely see him. No artificial light streams in. Just the soft glow of their tracker chips, the thing that ripped right out of their skin she realizes.

Her eyelids are heavy but she refuses to close them.

"How long have you been awake?" She asks.

"Not long."

Usually she's comfortable with silence, but despite the pitch black darkness of the cave she feels his eyes on her. Watching every twitch her aching muscles give.

Something digs into her shoulders and though she's disappointed to find not her bow, she is given some hope with her backpack.

She shifts around until it rests in her lap.

Careful not to spill the contents she digs around carefully. Relief floods her as she finds her sunglasses. Putting them on she can see the just how screwed she is.

The entrance is completely covered without a single gap in it. She spots Cato, a cut alongside his jaw as he sits hunched forward, black bags beneath his eyes. His hair is frazzled and strayed, some sticking to the blood on his forehead, the rest spiked in any direction.

She watches him for about a minute, his eyes trained to the wall just beside her where he must assume she is.

Her next glance is to her right, opposite of the entrance.

It's a tunnel. A very long, endless tunnel. It may take them to an exit it may take them to another pile of rocks. Katniss scratches back to the furthest corner of her mind, back to school when they learned about coal and mining.

They'd learned about tunnels such as this. There was a chance that somewhere along the edges there was a shaft that could lead to the open.

Sighing, her ribs ache, she looks through her bag to take inventory.

She might have a chance…

Does Cato?

Can she trust him?

Absolutely not.

But they must share this common goal, to find freedom.

"Do you have any supplies?" She asks. They'll need more than her bread, crackers, rabbit meat and water. The rabbit meat will have to go soon.

"No."

"Why not?"

"I left all my stuff back at the camp. I figured all I'd need was my sword."

She sees him run his hand over the leather holster that usually rested on his back but which now resides on the floor.

Indeed.

Just the sword.


	3. Prologue:3

The crowd watches silently as the trumpets blare and the hovercraft goes into the arena one last time.

Madge watches in silence beside her father. She's at a loss of words, unable to comprehend what just happened. If what Caesar and Claudius are having a field day with is something she could have just witnessed with her eyes.

Despite Peeta's fate, the loss of Katniss is a blow to her very heart. The rocks that tumble down upon her and the District Two boy. Hiding her from the world. Her cannon echoes through all of Twelve as she meets a fate so close to the heart of their people.

Already a circle surrounds her family, little Primrose at the center of it. Her mother stares at nothing in particular, he face void of color. Her father crouches down and envelopes Prim into a hug.

The Mellark family is nowhere to be seen, probably at home trying to find the reasoning behind Peeta's actions.

Madge slowly disappears from the crowd, giving a quick excuse to her father who doesn't dwell too long. Simply turns and as quietly as possible, goes into the Justice Building.

Madge is able to get away from the crowd without much trouble. Most people are discussing this year's Hunger Games, one where District Twelve's tributes weren't immediately slaughtered. She makes herself deaf to all of these words, and once she is away from any eyes she breaks out into a run.

She runs as fast and as hard as she can. Not much considering she tended to skip gym class in school, but still, she's on the other side of the District fairly fast.

Blood pounds and rushes in her ears. No doubt a flush in her cheeks as her limbs grow heavy.

Katniss was amazing.

Strong.

Brilliant.

The only one who treated Madge like a human being, despite the distinct Town and Seam clash in District Twelve.

Who was Madge besides the timid and quite daughter of the Mayor? The one people learned to ignore.

She runs, past the Seam where her father told her specifically to never go near. But they're all too busy mourning their Almost Victor to deal with the likes of her.

She ends up at the boundary of the District, knowing this is where she must stop.

She isn't brave enough to cross the barbed wire, despite her knowledge that it is only wire and that no electricity flows through it right now.

She falls to her knees, the grass dead where she falls comes up in clumps as her knees press farther in once the sobs start.

She knew she would have to cry eventually, might as well be away from the prying eyes of the world.

The sobs hurt her physically, start the process of healing her emotionally.

Poor Katniss, left to rot under a pile of rocks. Poor Peeta. Poor District Twelve. Poor Everdeen family who came so close to getting their beloved daughter back.

Madge knows in that moment why this all hurts so much (because surely losing one friend couldn't hurt so much) she hates herself. Despises in fact.

Katniss had a family who needed her. A sister who was being taken away. It should have been Madge to volunteer, whose family was a joke and life going unlived.

Her hair sticks to her tear stained face as she gasps against the power of her sobs.

Not Katniss.

Not Katniss.

_Not Katniss._

Her eyes are heavy as she leans against the tree trunk. A soft wind lifts strands of her hair in every tangled direction.

She feels no motivation to get up. None to lie down. She's perfectly happy here in purgatory.

But then the sound of him startles her back to reality.

Because the second those rocks feel and her cannon went off he must have ran for the mountains.

"Undersee." He says.

She imagines it was meant to sound more stern rather than the pitiful grumble that comes from him instead.

"Gale." She mumbles quietly, resting her chin on her legs. Guilt floods her once more, because surely he wishes it was her dead just as she does rather than Katniss. Surely these aren't healthy thoughts for her to think but they _are _true.

Embarrassed at being found, crumpled and covered in dirt, she slowly stands. Unlike Town boys he makes no move to help her up.

Her hands fist at her side as she does everything in her power to hold eye contact. They observe each other for a moment. Both swimming in grief and trying to cope with the death of a loved one.

"She said she would come home." Gale finally says.

"You know she couldn't control that."

"But she was so damn close!"

"I know." She whispers quietly.

"No you don't! You don't know a thing. Your just some stupid little girl from town. What do you know about suffering? About losing something you care about?"

She doesn't respond, knowing that most of what he just said was fueled by their loss.

He watches her carefully, ready to strike down any argument she might have.

She says nothing.

"So who won?" He asks once the tension lessens a few minutes later.

"You mean you didn't hear?"

* * *

**Yes I'm keeping Katniss's dad alive. Mostly because I've never really seen a fic with him in it and I think Katniss introducing him to Cato or something would be hilarious. **


	4. The Beginning

_The Rebellion stirred, the Capitol hisses._

_The moaning of a thousand dead tributes slowly becomes heard as the people unify. _

_Six young souls at the front of the Rebellion._

_None will fall, merely fade. _

_The crying of a newborn echoes through the woods._

_This is Death._


	5. The Beginning:1

She gives up just as the sun begins to fall to the horizon. Maybe give up isn't the way to put it but certainly begin to realize that it just wasn't going to happen.

She's angry, her fist balled up as she jumps off the boulder, ignoring the twitch in her legs from sitting for so long. She moves swiftly, breaking over to Peeta who still rests on the ground. For a moment Clove wonders if he's dead. If he was the trumpets would play though.

His skin is considerably more pale then last time, from his waist down there is a layer of blood. No wonder he didn't try to run, she thinks, he wouldn't have made it a mile.

He opens his eyes just as she steps in front of him.

Her resolve is simple. Kill him and be done with this.

She can mourn for Cato while she moves to the Victor's Village.

"Any last words Loverboy?" She hisses. A knife slips into her small hands and she lets the grin spread across her face, trying to find that place within her that longs for the blood of others.

It's void right now.

"A few."

Annoyed, having not really expected him to answer, she twirls the knife in her hands. "Well, spit it out before my Victory Tour will you?"

"It won't bring him back Clove."

"You think I don't know that?" She growls, growing angry at his insinuations. Like she actually believes she can bring Cato back simply by killing him. She grips the knife tighter.

"That's it? You aren't even going to try and fight me?"

She sees it in his eyes, the absolute pity all directed at her. He mumbles something and she manages to catch two words . 'Piece' and 'games.'

And Katniss's name of course.

"What was that?" She asks, trying to curb her curiosity.

He looks her in the eye a moment before shaking his head and standing to meet her. "You want this much more than I do. So do it."

Her fingers shake as she grips the knife just a little tighter.

She flips it on him, making sure the Capitol sees that this is all him, that they won't be able to blame her later.

"You won't fight me? Because of a freak landslide? You're weak. Pathetic. Consider yourself lucky to have gotten this far and honor it by fighting me."

She's almost positive that somewhere out there Caesar and Claudius are praising her and while Snow's face will be void of emotion, he will feel some sort of pride for District Two. It's all she's ever wanted. If he would just _fight _her.

"I'm not going to honor them with my death Clove. But I'll honor your victory with my death. That's what you want isn't it?"

"What I want _Peeta, _is for you to fight me."

"I refuse."

Her eyes widen and she's within an inch of just slitting his throat right there. But that can't happen. She's come too far for her opponent to just give up. She wants a fight like every other victor. She wants the gracefulness of Lyme. The shock factor Enobaria had. The sheer cruelness of Brutus. She wants the blood Cato would have spilled.

She wants Fire Girl here to, to witness all of it and know there's nothing she can do.

Clove grabs Peeta's wrist, satisfied at how much he tenses. Applying the right amount of pressure to the right places, his fingers uncurl and she pushes the handle of her knife into his palm.

She wraps her fingers over his, securing the knife in his hands, softer than what she expected, considering he comes from Twelve.

Taking a few steps back she removes her vest, a wide array of knives falling from it and sticking into the Earth. While she's at it she twists out of her body armor.

Tossing her jacket aside she bends over, picks a knife similar to the one she'd given him, and then circles to his other side.

She twirls it a few times, ready to fight him on equal ground.

He doesn't turn immediately to face her, instead looks at the blade, inspecting every scratch and finger print on it.

"You want me to justify this for you. Is that it?" He asks her softly.

She might be angrier under any other circumstances, but right now she's too confused by his words.

"Justify what?"

"You killing me. If you really wanted to do it you would have by now. Giving me this knife is your way of reassuring yourself that it's okay to kill me. But Clove… Doing it this way will stay with you forever."

He holds the knife up and her heart leaps, thinking he will finally come at her. But he drops it, the blade digging deeper into the ground then all the others.

Her eyes bug out and she glares down.

Her grip on her knife grows tight enough that the color drains from her knuckles and her veins begin to protrude.

Growls and howls sound in the distance and she knows she has to finish this quickly or else _they _will.

"Is that your final answer Loverboy?"

"Yes."

So certain, so solid. He means it.

They sound like the first genuine words in so long. Her life has been filled with lies.

Can she really kill the first one to tell her the truth in so long?

Could she kill him to begin with? Clearly not. She did give him a knife and ask him to fight her.

Maybe it's a moment of pure recklessness, a long lapse in judgment, an effect of being in the arena so long.

She drops her knife, stepping over it and collapsing to her knees on the ground in front of him. Her head bowed and she can feel the shock radiating from him. From the world.

"You were right." She whispers quietly. "I can't kill you." I can't. "I'm weak."

He falls before her, grabbing her shoulders and forcing her to look at him.

The howls grow louder, their footsteps growing closer.

"They're almost here." She whispers shakily, forcing herself not to lean closer to him.

"We don't have to kill anymore." He shrugs. The bleeding in his leg dragging him down to death faster and faster.

"It's going to hurt." She warns him.

"I'll die quickly."

She can hear them breaking through the clearing and her eyes snap shut.

"Thank you Peeta."

A hand grabs her own and it stops.

Trumpets blare and the horrid beasts disappear.

He doesn't let go of her hand until they are pulled apart in the hovercraft.


	6. The Beginning:2

Katniss groans when she tries to sit up for the first time.

Her muscles are stiff and protest at simple movement. She's sure not to strain, only stretch and move slow. She manages to sit a little straighter and is able to lift her hands. Not sure where to go from here she begins to redo her braid.

She feels his eyes on her but doesn't look up. Some back corner of her mind reasons that if she ignores him long enough he might just go away.

With her glasses still on though, she sees the way his fingers grip the sword. No way she'd be able to separate him from it.

The only surprise, so far, is that he hasn't pushed through the pain to kill her yet.

She sits in silence after that, trying to find a solution to their entrapment. Back in school, when they were learning about mining, the teacher mentioned that when there was a collapse it was possible for a shift of rock in other areas to move as well.

If this were the case they had a shot at making it out of here.

Pulling her bag onto her lap she finally takes the time to do inventory, noting everything she has and calculating just how long it will last.

"What are you doing?" Cato hisses, paranoid by the sudden noise in their enclosed space.

"Nothing that concerns you." She bites back, annoyed already with him.

Her rope, sleeping bag, water bottle, iodine bottle, sheet of plastic. Minimal food. Enough for two days if stretched and rationed very carefully. Among two people. With her ability to starve she could probably make it a week.

Her bow is under a pile of rocks. It will work for hunting, but only if she's careful with it. Her quiver is found only a few feet from her, five arrows inside of it. It occurs to her right then that she can kill Cato very easily.

Her fingers also twitch in the general direction. Save her a lot of food and water.

Water.

She's _so _thirsty.

Memories of her first days in the arena return and she immediately unscrews her bottle, taking only a few precious sips before securing the lid and setting it up just right. That bottle spilling could be the difference between her life and her death.

A very fine line that she's barely hanging onto.

She watches Cato look around wildly, stop, pin point her exact location.

He reminds her of the wolfs she sees on very rare occasions. Not necessary a dog. Dogs can be tamed. Dogs back off when they are threatened. They don't understand hierarchy the way wolfs do. He asserted his leadership over the Careers. He won't be tamed, merely disgruntled. It's unnerving to finally meet a wolf after a lifetime of dogs.

"We need to get out of here." She tells him.

He snorts and despite the darkness he rolls his eyes. "No, I felt like rotting in this place."

This time she has to resist the urge to roll her own eyes.

Using the wall for support she does her best to stand up. It's a miserable process, her being so tired and weak from the last few hours leaves her winded upon standing up.

Her bag, repacked, feels to heavy on her shoulders along with her sensitive bow and few arrows.

She glances at the fallen rocks that block them from the only known exit of the cave, to the other end which is long and hollow with no sign of escape.

Cato's eyes follow her. His grip on the sword lethal.

"Well did you want to rot here or something?" She glares. Honestly, Katniss is just fine with leaving him down in this hell hole.

He seems to realize where she's going, and with a few deep breaths begins to stand himself up.

He struggles, his left leg seems twisted and limp. Still, he pushes through it and stands up. She slowly begins to move to the back of the cave, avoiding fallen rocks and slanted walls with ease. Cato seems to struggle though. Katniss realizes pretty quickly that Cato will never make it out of the cave unless helped. Or given the glasses. Which just wasn't going to happen.

She sighs, not her fault he was to arrogant to bring his own supplies.

Still, as long as they were on survival terms she figured she ought to help him.

"There's a rock up here on the right. The cave slants on the left so we're going to have to hunch under it."

"Fire girl… How can you see?"

Katniss instantly stiffens, realizing her mistake. And then she's kicking herself for ever trying to help him. She feels the change in the air before she actually sees it. His hand covers her face, slipping the glasses right off of her face.

Darkness sinks into her very bones as she attempts to remember the landscape that was just before them.

"Ah. Much better."

Her annoyance for him is at boiling point as he quickly takes the lead and begins to move through the cave with ease.

For a minute she panics that he'll just leave her behind now. Hell, with that sword of his he could kill her and take her backpack. Which raises the grand question of why he hasn't already.

After taking a few moments to pout about the loss of her vision, she begins to navigate through the cave as best she can. Her hands out and trying to find direction once she gets past the first obstacle. She nearly screams when something warm envelopes her outstretched fingers.

She attempts to pull back once she realizes it's Cato's hand.

_Gonna kill me now._

_This is it._

"There's a crack in the ground, just step over it."

It takes a second to process his words and another minute to analyze the fact that he just helped her.

She could spend hours scrutinizing his hand still holding hers. But slowly she lifts her foot and slides it up.

"Little further." He instructs.

She navigates just a bit before he says, "There."

Dropping her foot and then taking a tentative step with the other and their hands drop.

The next few hours are silent, his occasional tutelage guiding her over the hazards of the cave.

This is how she came to know the District Two boy just a little better. Not the guy who could have killed her when he had the chance but the one who guided her through hell.


	7. The Beginning:3

With the games over and having District Twelve's half victor, Madge's life was flipped. The house crowded with Capitol people setting up for Peeta's return. Katniss slowly faded into a pleasant memory for some. Her parents were regarded with pity, the Mellark's congratulated.

Madge herself wasn't sure what to do. She was now completely isolated in school, sitting alone and having nobody to keep her company.

She hardly slept, scenes of the cave collapsing replayed over and over in her mind.

It was the morning of Peeta and Clove's first appearance since winning that took her the longest to get out of bed.

Downstairs she heard the sound of people with things to do scurrying around. She herself was free for the day, school was canceled for the occasion.

But this house was suffocating, the sound of her mother's pained moans was maddening. She pulled on the cleanest top she can find, the most sensible pants she owns. Being able to slip away has always been her forte, it doesn't fail her today. She slips out the house without anybody noticing.

She sticks close to the buildings, hoping to avoid any contact with human beings.

District Twelve is as split as ever. In some instances fights have broken out.

The Town people want to celebrate their victory, be joyous in Peeta's return.

The Seam mourns for their huntress. The one who gave them hope after a series of deaths.

Madge is in turmoil. Is she happy to have Peeta back? Of course. But Katniss was gone forever. It was hard to tell just how she felt.

She sighs, digging her hands into her pockets and rummaging for any lose change. She finds none and resolves to continue walking, despite not having any breakfast.

Today the sky is clear, the coal dust lingering close to the ground. The mines aren't shut down, but there being worked by only those who desperately need the shift. It's not every year that Twelve has a Victor.

The square is crowded, the big screen being washed down, every shop is open and ready for business. With promises of food coming in from Peeta's victory, everybody is just a bit more lose with the purse strings today. The Mellark bakery has been slammed with business, the line all the way to the street curb. Everybody's probably congratulating the family.

Madge watches all of this, feeling happiness creep up on her. It's nice to see everybody in good spirits.

Summer was coming to an end and she knew she would have to soak up these last days of good weather before the chill set in.

It takes her fifteen minutes to get out of the square, it usually takes less than five minutes but today the celebrating has set her back.

She dodges people and goes around the circles of those who stop in the middle of the pathway.

After she leaves the square, and the surrounding homes, it's like a ghost town. All houses still and quite as she slowly wanders down the dirt roads.

She walks until the cheers from the square turn into faint hums in the back of her mind.

Until the fence is clearly visible.

She tries to imagine what it would be like, to go to it every morning and slip under the wire. It was always her intention to ask Katniss to take her out there one day. When she felt brave enough anyway.

She sighs, one deep breath in and one deep breath out. Life was moving on and maybe it was for the best.

The edge of the Seam was in her peripheral vision, though it seemed just as abandoned as the other houses.

Sighing, trying not to think of Primrose, she turned on her heels and was about to head straight home and barricade herself in her room until things cooled down.

But of course he was there, of course it would be the one person she talked to after the rocks fell.

Flashbacks of their last little talk hit her. Would her and Gale Hawthorne ever get along? No, they were like cats and dogs, complete opposites with so little in common.

At least he had strawberries.

She intends to walk around him, seeing as how he doesn't bother to move out of her way. Her eyes drop to the ground as she lifts her reluctant feet up.

She makes it just to the his right before he says anything.

"She… She said you two were friends. I never understood how you managed that."

"Managed friendship?" Madge asks, amusement in her voice for the first time in a long time.

"Yeah… How does the Mayor's daughter become friends with somebody from the Seam?"

"She sees the Seam girl for herself. Not because of a fake class system in some crummy old District."

He actually looks surprised by her words which is a shock to Madge. She always assumed Gale was the type to talk Capitol trash when nobody was around.

He blinks, his face falling back into a mask of indifference and frustration. She admires him for a moment. Many girls from the town watch him leave with so much longing.

'Oh if only he wasn't destined to be a coal miner.' They sigh over each other.

"How… How are you holding up?" She asks with reluctance.

His eyes snap to her from whatever he was staring at.

"I'm just fine."

It's a lie but what's she gonna do? Call him out on it?

It doesn't surprise her when he doesn't ask her how she is, or exchange meaningless small talk. He readjusts the canvas bag on his back and heads towards the coal covered homes.

She walks back to her house, feeling a little lighter that in the coming years of more Hunger Games and more meaningless deaths, Gale Hawthorne will mourn for the same friend she mourns for, that it won't be just her family who hold the burden of moving on.

Her home, especially clean as officials go in and out, stands like a meaningless pile of timber. Where the sick, her mother, rot into themselves.

Inside there is still the same chaos, the same complaining and trying to get themselves organized. She goes to her room feeling that strange lightness in her bones.

When the time comes she goes to her empty living room and braces herself to see Peeta Mellark and the Girl With the Knives.

* * *

**In case you haven't noticed it goes: Cleeta, Catoniss, Gadge. **


	8. The Beginning:4

Upon waking up for the first time, all Peeta could sense was the brightness that the room emitted. His eyes, sensitive from being closed for so long, squeezed together as tightly as possible as he let out a groan which triggered a series of coughs.

The first thing he noticed once he was fully awake, was just how hurt he must have been. His arms were covered with needles, all pumping some sort of liquid into him.

Second was that Haymitch was there, hunched over in his seat, a bottle of whisky held tightly even in his sleep. His eyes puffed around the edges. He had been crying. For Katniss?

Third, and perhaps most reluctantly, the absence of his left leg.

He feels it, the way he can curl one set of toes but not the other. When he takes a deep breath and works up the courage to look down, sure enough there is only a stub outlined in the thin blue blanket draped a across him.

His breath catches in his throat and he does his best to keep it together. He survived the Hunger Games, it cost him a leg but he was still alive. That was what counted wasn't it?

He falls back against the bed, staring at his mentor, the room around him. An extraordinary change from the forest.

It's only after he's closing his eyes once more that he remembers Clove.

* * *

When she wakes up its more a snap of transition from asleep to awake. There is no groggy in-between, not since she was five. 0

And like every awakening, she asses her surroundings quickly and acutely. She realizes he's there seconds before his hand grips her chin and shoves her down.

"Brutus."

He growls, shaking her face back and forth which sets a dull ache in her neck. He drops her chin and pushes her by the forehead further into the bed.

"Do you know what you did? What you fucking did? You broke seventy three years of damn tradition. You're a disgrace to your district!"

She watches him with steady eyes, willing her face to give no emotion away.

"God damn second place." He begins to pace, ignoring her. Enobaria walks in a few minutes later, a snarl on her face when she realizes Clove's awake.

She takes a seat in the armchair across the room, her posture immaculate and her hands resting on either side of her. She sat like that at the academy, it made her look like a queen.

"My my, do you remember you're reasoning at all? Why didn't you kill the little Twelve rat?"

"Or cry for Cato." Brutus interjects.

Enobaria barks a laugh. "And that!" She sighs, her head falling to one side and her eyes narrowing.

Clove growls, a feral and animalistic sound as she attempts to sit up further.

"Oh she's angry." Brutus grumbles with false amusement, pushing her back down, his palms enveloping her face.

"Now were on damage control because of you." Enobaria hisses, it makes a whistling noise because of her teeth. Both the mentors slink out the door, the lights go off and the distinct sound of a lock resonates.

It's not uncommon to be locked in a dark room back at the academy as punishment.

Clove realizes, much to late, that she's made the world angry and that the only way she can right it is by killing Lover Boy.

* * *

The hospital is home to both victors for about two days.

For Clove its pure isolation.

For Peeta it's a reunion, when Haymitch awaken he pats him on the shoulder and gives a sarcastic 'congratulations' and Effie is pure squeals. "My first victor my first victor! Oh I'm just so happy!"

Portia smiles very softly at him, Cinna even shakes his hand, though there is the same puffiness around his eyes as Haymitch.

It's on the third day that they finally let him leave the hospital and return to the training center. His prosthetic leg takes some getting used to but otherwise he can walk fairly normal on it. Effie makes him practice on it constantly because 'practice makes perfect!'

Interview prep is exhausting. Worse than last time he thinks, because now the recaps will be centered around just him and Clove instead of twenty four potential victors.

He hasn't seen Clove yet. He wishes… he's not sure what he wants from her. Perhaps to simply ask what she thought of all of this.

Effie works on general appearance and Haymitch on what to say and what not to say.

When the sun goes down Portia and his prep team get him ready. He hardly takes notice of what he's wearing, just trusts that they did a good job as usual. He's being ushered (dragged) down the elevator to a waiting car.

Haymitch slaps him on the shoulders, the vibrations of the crowd shake the ground above them.

"You'll be fine kid." It's a lie. Peeta just nods though, not sure how else to deal with this.

He's on a new platform this year, built for the additional victor.

And as it slowly raises up he can't help but wonder what Katniss would do if it was her on the rising platform. The answer is simple, indifference. She wouldn't show them what she actually felt. She wouldn't give them that satisfaction. He wishes, for just a split second, that he could do the same. But the blinding light takes him over as all of Panem watches him once again.

She's on his right, so small and enveloped in an egg white colored dress. Her hair is down and straight as she meets his eyes head on, anger and resentment slam into him. They slowly move towards one another and he has no idea what to do. Hug her? Shake her hand? Her arms are crossed, her face scrunched up.

Caesar rushes over and throws his arms around both of them.

"Ladies and gentleman! Your Victors!" He raises both their arms into the air and the crowd is on their feet, screaming and even crying.

They are led to a loveseat directly in front of a wall sized television. Peeta takes a deep breath to steady himself as the lights dim and the T.V. lights up.

Clove watches it with ever steady eyes, preparing herself for even further humiliation.

Caesar watches halfhearted, his eyes flashing between the two victors nervously. All he can do is hope he doesn't meet the same fate as Seneca Crane.

* * *

**Okay, fast paced chapter, fast update. Kind of want to get moving into the real heart of the story. Cato/Katniss next chapter. **


	9. The Beginning:5

Katniss decides she hates Cato indefinitely after about an hour of stumbling in the dark.

Occasionally, when they reach a sharp bend or fallen ruble he will stop and help her. Otherwise he seems to enjoy watching her smack into things.

She hates him, more so besides the fact that he is a Career, but that he had everything he could have needed to survive this cave yet he couldn't be bothered to bring it with him. Instead he choose to bring only his weapons.

She continued to navigate in the darkness, on those rare occasions he would grab her palm or her wrist and give her further instructions.

Otherwise they travelled in complete silence.

Her bag was still unbelievably heavy, a strain on her tired muscles.

She'd rather have it with her though.

Cato had yet to comment on it.

They rarely rested, she attributed this to the Career in front of her. She doubted he ever slowed down in the arena. He was probably always hunting.

She hated the cave. She hated it maybe even more then she hatedCato.

So many District Twelve miners died in an environment much like it.

Her father had almost been one of them. She remembers him coming up on one of the last elevators up when she was eleven. His face nearly unrecognizable with the soot that covered it. Her mother letting out a breath, running to him with tears pouring down her face as she pulled him away from the hellish pit. His lungs had been damaged, nearly six months he was forced to lay in bed, constantly wheezing and going into coughing fits.

No money came into the home.

On one of his good days he asked her to come into the room.

She strained to hear him, pressing her ear close enough so that she could listen to his strained words.

He'd whispered of the hollow trunk in the forest where his bow waited.

After that it was her putting dinner on the table until he was well enough to join her in the woods and go back to the mines.

Then she met Gale Hawthorne. His father had been injured as well, lost a leg in the process.

Her father was more than ready to help the son of an old friend and together the three of them hunted.

Katniss thinks of sweet little Prim as she trudged through the cave with a man who's hands were soaked in blood. Prim who would never last a minute in the arena. So despite being trapped in some cave, Katniss resolved that things could be worse for her.

Her legs shake and sweat sticks on the back of her neck. The water in her bag is tempting but… just not yet.

It hasn't been long enough.

The will power needed to not take a swig is incredible to her.

These are her musings when it finally hits her.

She'd recognize it anywhere, having sought it out just about every day since he whispered the location of the bow.

"Wait." She yelps to Cato. He stops instantly, she feels her eyes land on her. She twist around, trying to find the location.

It's fresh air that invades her nostrils. So much sweeter than the musky odor of the cave.

"Well what is it?" Cato asks, his voice impatient from ahead of her.

"Don't you smell it? There's a breeze up ahead." If she wasn't so elated at the possibility of her freedom she might throw an _idiot _at the very end of her explanation.

She can picture him looking every which way. Maybe even lowering the shades and trying to spot light.

"Let's keep moving." She finally tells him. It seems like the appropriate move.

Her eyes are flashing in every direction, trying to spot any beams of light.

The first one is barely the size of a coin. The light is dim and she realizes it's either morning or dusk. If night is settling in they need to stop. Otherwise they might just pass any exits.

She eyes the small hole, willing there to be more.

A whistle from the boy in front of her.

"Up ahead."

Her eyes flash forward and there it is. It's small but definitely accessible.

Wind hisses as it scrapes the edges and the impact of the air on her skin is delightful. Slowly the cave disappears from pitch black and settles into dimness.

She gets close enough that she can actually see Cato's face, the glasses no longer on his face but instead poking out of his coat pocket.

The opening is maybe four feet wide, small but still an exit.

Without hesitation she passes Cato and slips through, her leg gets caught on a jagged end but she easily pulls it away.

She takes a deep breath, escalated with her freedom. The sun rises in the east, they must have slept until nightfall after the collapse.

The ground beneath her is soft and she's half tempted to collapse into it.

The lack of his presence beside her unnerves her more than she would like to admit.

She turns around, surprised to see him still standing in the cave.

Was it his leg? She remembered seeing it twisted at an odd angle. Why wasn't he tumbling out of that hellhole as she had?

"C-Cato?"

He glances around the edges of the opening, then to the expanding forest.

"We're not in the arena anymore."

Katniss tilts her head, unsure how to respond.

"No we're not."

She finally understands it though. Despite her qualms about killing children she was still the criminal between the two of them. Every monstrous act he committed in the arena was perfectly legal. To the Capitol, despite his training to kill, he was the perfect Panem citizen. His training was overlooked because it served for better entertainment. She was the criminal, the one who should be killed. She hunted, she spoke rebellious things. She cried when Rue died and then she had the nerve to mourn.

Cato stood in the cave, still reluctant on moving.

She realized what was going to happen now.

They couldn't go back to the Capitol. They couldn't go home. As far as the country was concerned both Katniss and Cato were dead and irretrievable. Showing up would make the Capitol a liar.

It all crashed on her once. Horror swept through her as she realized she would never see Prim again. Her mother and father. Gale. District Twelve. She may never learn if Peeta went home or if Buttercup was still roaming around.

She felt sick, her stomach falling to the ground. All she had left of her former life was the monster who had almost killed her.

She would have to spend the rest of her life outside of that arena. The forest was fine by her. Cato not so much. Unfortunately he was the only human being there.

Maybe he realized that as well as he took his first reluctant step outside of the cave.

They were stuck with each other.

Perhaps for the rest of their lives.


	10. The Beginning:6

Life slowly moved on in District Twelve. It still purred with the promise of Peeta's return and the promise of free food. Other than that, things were settling down.

Madge hummed in tune with her piano, letting her fingers dance across the keys in a soft and quite song. Her mother's headaches flared up today and it wouldn't do to play something loud and obnoxious. She smiled quietly, letting the music flow through her. The house was quiet, the Capitol people had gone for now. She smiled softly at the thought of Peeta's return. He was a good guy and it was terrible that he had been taken in the first place.

After an hour or so of playing she figured it was time to wrap up. She laid the board down and tucked her chair in. Her fingers walked across the smooth surface of the piano lightly before she smiled and slowly made her way to her own room.

Her bedroom was nice by Twelve's standards. The same wood floors as the living room, a soft bed that hardly creaked.

She sat on said bed, contemplating going to sleep now rather than later. The sun still lit the sky though, and she resolved to stay up just a bit longer.

She knew that Delly Cartwright was more than willing to hang out, or Vesta whose parents liked having Madge over more than Vesta cared for. Being the Mayor's daughter did that, people wanted you to owe them favors.

That's why _she _had been a good friend. She wanted very little from anybody else.

Madge shook her head, deciding staying home would be more agreeable.

Her homework was done, not that it mattered. She didn't need to know how to mine for coal.

Instead she pulled out one of her books. When they became to damaged or old at the school library they would usually give them away, she'd managed to get her hands on some once or twice.

Most of them were romance, harmless Capitol love between two well respected and high class citizens. Books like these were rare in Twelve but sought after by most girls. Mostly because the men in the stories were cheesy and romantic, sweet and caring. So unlike the rough and grisly men who ran the mines or the stern and straight-faced merchants.

She was a quarter of the way through the book, not at all impressed with it, when her father called her down to the kitchen.

She double checked her appearance. He usually called her down if they had guests and needed help entertaining. She tried to remember if he'd mentioned anybody coming over but none came to mind.

Still, with perfect posture and a small smile on her lips, she descended the stairs.

She was surprised however, to find only her father there. She immediately dropped her shoulders and allowed herself to relax.

"You wanted to see me?"

He eyes her from over his cup, most likely tea, and nods to the seat in front of him.

For a moment she wonders if she is in trouble, a ridiculous notion considering she's never rebelled against him a day in her life. Unless you count running near the Seam after Katniss's death, but perhaps that was expected.

He hands her a cup of milk and she slowly takes a sip, unsure what he's building up to. It takes him a few minutes to get there but she waits patiently for him to begin.

"As you know, your seventeenth birthday is fast approaching. Perhaps now is the time to begin finding your future husband."

Madge stiffens up considerably at his words.

It's the unspoken tradition of Twelve that you get married just after your last Reaping. That means a year of courting somebody and hoping they don't get picked for the Games.

After that it's marriage and then running the business of the spouse. That's how it works for the Town people, Madge wasn't sure how they did it in the Seam.

She realized most of the girls her age were with a boy their family might approve of, while she herself had never even been on a date.

She pressed her lips together and made no indication that she understood what her father had said.

Madge was reluctant to marry, even date a boy at this time. There were none who made her feel anything, just boys who goofed off and thought life was just one big funny joke.

It wasn't though, it was hardship and loss. And while she had never experienced much of it, she was still adapt to seeing it. It was hard to imagine herself married, running a business in Town and being forced to smile everyday.

Her father stares at her but says nothing. Clearly he is just as uncomfortable with this subject as she is.

Madge continues to drink her milk until she can see the bottom of the cup, then she holds it in both hands and stares at the empty glass with disinterest

Finally, after thinking she can take no more of the silence, "I don't know what you want me to say."

He watches her sympathetically before nodding. "I've arranged a date for you. Artie Caster? His family runs the grocery store. They tell me he's shy. You two will be going out tomorrow night, if you don't like him that's fine. But please, at least give him a chance?"

Madge thinks of Artie, he seemed nice but he was usually surrounded by a group of friends so she didn't know him very well.

Still, her father looks at her expectantly and she knows she couldn't disappoint him if she could help it. He was practically all she had.

"I'll do it."

The relief on his face is obvious as he nods and leaves the room.

Madge sits there for a moment, wondering what life will bring her. Certainly not Artie.

* * *

The date with Artie was everything she expected, they had dinner at his family's house and then sat on the couch and watched the TV.

He was fidgeting almost the entire night, glancing at her out the corner of his eyes and smiling shyly. Eventually, Artie's mother came into the room and laughed when she saw the TV on. She switched it off and shook her head, "you kids these days, you watch that TV and never get to know each other. How do you expect to fall in love?" Despite both Madge and Artie blushing right down to the bone, she continued to chuckle as she left the room.

They hardly spoke a word to each other, only speaking of school and teachers they had in common. Their conversations were polite and to the point, small talk at the best.

It's around seven thirty, with the sun still on the horizon that he walks her home. He lives in the very heart of the merchants housing, with Madge clear across town at the tip of the District.

She sees him eyeing her hand and knows he wants to hold it. When she thinks he might make a move, she crosses her arms and keeps them close to her body for warmth.

Just as they're about to leave the merchants housing, a group of four boys go running past them. They pause when they spot Artie and call out to him.

"You better come with us man!"

"Yeah did you hear? The first shipment of food arrived early. You can only take what you can carry."

They don't wait, spinning on their heels and running towards the square. Madge watches Artie and sees the desire to follow them.

"You should go." She says softly, knowing he would blame her if his family didn't get a fair share of food.

"Are you sure?" He's already made his decision though, she can tell by the heal that barely touches the ground. As soon as she nods, before she can even say yes, he's already halfway down the road and catching up to the other boys.

She walks home, alone, and completely indifferent to Artie Caster.


End file.
